Category: Tech

Thinkpad Tablet: Shipping Surprise

This is the third part of my Thinkpad Tablet PC adventure. Part 1 is here and part 2 is here.

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When I got home tonight I had an email from Lenovo telling me that “all or part” of my order has shipped. When I went to the Thinkpad web site and checked my order, the information page reported that the computer has shipped. The extra battery is treated as a “related order” and still has the very confusing dual notation of “2 weeks” and 11/9/05 (more than 2 weeks). This is no biggie, as the computer is the main thing I want, and I can wait a week or two for the extra battery.

I should have the computer on Thursday. In sum, Lenovo’s web site is a little confusing and the order status page isn’t terribly accurate, but the computer shipped 22 days after I ordered it and, given the demand and the estimated shipping dates, that is pretty good.

I’m satisfied with the time to ship. After Thursday, we’ll see how I like the computer.

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More on the New DVD Formats

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If you’re interested in a little more detail on the DVD format war I discussed the other day, Business Week has a very interesting article about it.

The story reads like a high tech barroom brawl, with the Hollywood cartel promoting DRM and lots of it while Microsoft tries, seemingly unsuccessfully, to promote its vision of the PC connected home and keep the X-Box in the race. It’s a great read, even if you don’t care about the technology involved.

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Thinkpad Tablet: Waiting in Vain

This is the second part in my Thinkpad Tablet PC adventure. Part 1 is here.

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I checked my order status last night (using Internet Explorer, of course, since Lenovo’s order status page won’t work in Firefox).

From the first time I checked my order status until last night, the information page has always stated that my computer was back ordered for “2-4 weeks.” I was hoping we were getting closer to 2, since I ordered the computer nearly 3 weeks ago. Alas, such is not the case.

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Last night, the information page reported only that my computer was “back ordered” and suggested that I call for further information. The “Estimated Ship Date” column, however, has an estimated ship date of 11/8/05 for the computer and, oddly, 11/9/05 for the extra battery. A little more than a month away, assuming (which I do not) that this date is accurate.

I really want this computer, but my zeal is beginning to fade. Now that Gateway has released its new Tablet PC (heavier, but with more stuff on it), I am rethinking my commitment to the Thinkpad.

The verdict: I still slightly prefer the Thinkpad because this will be a travel computer and it is lighter. But I am not so committed to it that I will wait and wait and wait. I’ll give it another week and see where we are.

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TIVO Deathwatch: DirecTV Launches Ad Campaign

The New York Times has an interesting article about the forthcoming DirecTV brand digital video recorder. A few highlights:

1) DirecTV is spending $30M on an ad campaign to market its new digital video recorder. The non-HDTV model (which no one should buy since the future of TV is HDTV) will be available in late October. The HDTV version, which DirecTV hopes will be an HR10-250 (the HDTV TIVO I and many others paid $1K a piece for) killer, will be available in mid-2006.

2) The TIVO/DirecTV contract requires DirecTV to pay TIVO around a buck a month per TIVO subscriber. All of this for a buck a month. I’d gladly pay another buck a month if it would keep TIVO on DirecTV life support.

3) DirecTV will continue to “support TIVO” without marketing it. That’s great for non HR10-250 owners, but the HR10-250s don’t support MPEG4, which DirecTV is moving to, so they’ll be obsolete doorstops soon regardless of DirecTV’s stealth support.

4) The TIVO/DirecTV contract expires in early 2007, so even the stealth support may end then. Given that possiblility, why would anyone who uses DirecTV even think for a second about buying a TIVO. That’s right, they wouldn’t, which is exactly what DirecTV wants.

5) TIVO has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against EchoStar, the owner of Dish Network, a DirecTV competitor, over Dish Network’s digital video recorder. Certainly, this raises the possibility of a suit against DirecTV.

TIVO continues to look for a way to reinvent itself in a market that is sadly moving against it. I wish it would work, but as a DirecTV customer, TIVO is no longer an option for me. It looks like people who want to keep using TIVO are going to have to switch back from satellite to cable. I just don’t see that happening to any significant extent.

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Tech Tips for Tweeners: Wireless to Go

babycomputer

One of the primary purposes of Newsome.Org is to introduce and explain computer-related programs and features to other in-betweeners like me- people who are the parents of the youngsters to whom computers and the internet are as integral as the telephone and the children of our parents who have no intention of ever embracing computers.

These days almost everyone has a work laptop and those of you who don’t soon will. Wireless network connections for connecting to a home or office network and the internet are becoming commonplace in offices and in hotels. In fact, the Days Inn in Cheraw, SC has something the very upscale Barton Creek Resort and Spa doesn’t have- free, high speed wireless internet!

In any case, wireless networking has gone mainstream and most newish laptops have wireless network capability. This is helpful for home networks- we have a secured wireless network at our house that allows me and our guests to use our laptops anywhere in the house. Wireless networks in offices allow visitors to connect to the internet in conference rooms. Wireless networks in hotels allow you to use your laptop from the easy chair, bed, etc. The problem is that many hotels, even nice ones, don’t yet have wireless networks. Rather, they have a cable-connected network, usually via a little box on the desk. This works fine until you want to move to the easy chair on the other side of the room- beyond the reach of the network cable.

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Well, thanks to Linksys there’s a cheap and easy solution to this problem. I bought a Linksys WTR54GS Travel Router from Newegg for $79.99. I took it on its first business trip last week, and it was invaluable. Here’s how simple it was to use.

I plugged it into the electrical outlet in my hotel room (the built in plug is retractable for easy storage). I plugged the hotel room network cable into the router (the router comes with its own network cable just in case the hotel room or other location doesn’t supply one). I turned on the router. Immediately I had a fast, stable network connection. Simple as that. I didn’t even need to use the installation CD that came with the router.

Granted, my instant network was unsecured, but it’s easy to set up a secured network and you only have to do it once. After that, a secured network is equally instant.

The router is small and comes with a handy carrying case for the router and the supplied network cable. All in all, this is a must have for the frequent traveler.

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Thirsty at the Virtual Watercooler

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We had a good discussion a few months ago on getting heard- the reasons, challenges and benefits of attracting readers to your blog. I have thought about that some over the past few months and wanted to post my current thinking.

There are three primary kinds of readers of a web site, including a blog:

1) People who find the site because they know you or because you tell them about it. These folks don’t rely on external links and often are pretty sticky (meaning they generally spend a little time on the site and usually bookmark it and return to read new content). This is the “living Christmas card” concept that I’ve talked about before. This is a perfectly appropriate use of and purpose for a blog. In fact, I believe it is one of the most effective community building tools- tools that help a site gain critical mass by keeping readers connected and interested. It’s easy to get this sort of traffic, but the pool of potential readers is limited to people you (a) know and (b) tell about your blog.

2) People who find your site through web searches such as Google or Technorati. Newsome.Org has been on the web for 10 years, has a lot of links from (and to) other sites, and is highly ranked on most of the search engines under the logical key words (newsome, songwriting, music, ACC sports, etc.). As the site has transformed into more of a “tech for grownups” thing, the search engine placement has had to catch up, but over time it will. Search engine placement is good for traffic, but the readers who come via this path are generally not very sticky (they wander through and keep going, only to return the same way they came- via a web search for a key word, etc.).

3) People who find you via a link on another topic-compatible blog. People who read blogs have learned to appreciate the new distribution of information model that blogs allow. I was very late to the game, originally thinking that blogs were merely online diaries (most of my over 30 friends still think that). I am a convert now, and get most of my tech and entertainment news from blogs. A link from another blog is the highest and best way to attract readers who want regular content in blog form. The problem is that these links are, by far, the hardest to come by. The so called A-List bloggers (meaning those with lots of traffic) tend to link mostly to each other, enjoying a virtual watercooler where they discuss a series of topics. There’s nothing wrong with regularly linking to a group of blogs, as that produces the sort of distributed conversations that make blogs so interesting. But after a while it seems like only some people are talking. Those who aren’t involved in the conversation eventually get frustrated or bored and stop listening. Not only is that bad the person who wants to talk, it’s also bad for the person doing the talking. If no new perspectives are introduced, the conversation around the water cooler can become stale and repetitive- leading to a loss of readers. I’m not criticizing the A-List bloggers (I read many of them daily). I am simply expressing the frustration felt by those of us who would like to join the conversation but have not yet been able to effectively do so.

Robert Scoble, one of my favorite bloggers and the A-List guy that seems to me to be the most open to new participants, has a post today about Memorandum. He mentions another post by Nick Davis in which Nick says he’s over Memorandum, seemingly in part because it always features posts from the same group of blogs (mainly the aforementioned A-List). Scoble’s advice is to “write a more interesting post.” That’s great advice, but it only gets you so far. You can write like Carl Hiaasen, but if no one links to you, few people will ever find your interesting post and you will most assuredly never show up on Memorandum.

I don’t know what the answer is, but I can tell you that getting a place at the virtual watercooler is a lot harder than I thought it would be.

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Thinkpad Tablet: Ordering & Emailing

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Over the past couple of years, I have become very impressed with Tablet PCs– not only the hardware, but also Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. The tablets are smaller, very easy to use on airplanes and in hotel rooms and generally better suited for travelling than my office laptop and all of the required cables and accessories that I have to lug around with it.

The one problem is that I have been using a Fujitsu Stylistic tablet which has no keyboard. This tablet is fantastic for reading emails and viewing web pages, but it is hard to tap or write out long emails. I intend to keep and use the Fujitsu for web surfing and email checking around the house, but I needed something else to take on business trips.

So I bought an IBM ThinkPad X41 tablet PC. These tablets are new and much heralded by laptop and tablet enthusiasts, so I figured I would have to wait a bit to get mine.

Here’s the story so far. Once my tablet arrives, I’ll post photos and a detailed review.

I knew that IBM’s computer division had been purchased by Lenovo, a Chinese PC manufacturer, but I’ve read enough about the deal and the transition that I felt comfortable buying a Thinkpad- long considered one of the best lines of laptop computers.

I went to the Thinkpad web site and placed an order a couple of weeks ago. There aren’t many customization options, so I picked the X-41 with a 60 GB hard drive and an extra battery and submitted my order. The first minor problem was that, contrary to the message you get during checkout, I never received any email confirmation of my order. No big deal. I wrote Lenovo on 9/24/05 and inquired about my order. On 9/26/05 I received an email reply giving me my order number and telling me that my computer was on backorder with an estimated ship date of 3-4 weeks. That was about what I expected, so no problem. The tag line on the email, We are the new. We are the future. We are Lenovo. Think Lenovo!, was a little too “all your base are belong to us,” but no biggie. Make me a great computer and you can say anything you want in your email.

When I went back to the Thinkpad web site to track my order online, two odd things happened. First, the page wouldn’t display (at least in Firefox) for several refresh attempts and then, once it did, I was asked for my customer number in addition to my order number if I wanted to track my order status online. So I wrote another email a week ago asking for my customer number. On Friday, I received a response with my customer number. I can now check my order online. It says 2-4 weeks, with a link for “more information.” That link leads to a pop-up suggesting that you call Lenovo for further information. That’s not much in the way of order tracking. Lenovo should take a look at the way Dell does online tracking.

So far this has been a slightly bumpy road, but nothing I can’t handle. The story will be told both figuratively and here over the next few weeks.

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Tech Tips for Tweeners: New DVD Formats

babycomputer

One of the primary purposes of Newsome.Org is to introduce and explain computer-related programs and features to other in-betweeners like me- people who are the parents of the youngsters to whom computers and the internet are as integral as the telephone and the children of our parents who have no intention of ever embracing computers.

Everyone, no matter what age, has a DVD player and watches DVDs. Many people record TV shows and/or home videos onto DVDs. One problem with recording DVDs is that, because of conflicting and sometimes incompatible formats (DVD-R, DVD+R, etc.), DVDs recorded by one player won’t play in certain other DVD players. Fortunately, many newer players can play most, if not all, of the current DVD formats (older and very low end players still cannot). But the problem is about to get worse.

Like about every other emerging tecnnology where there is money to be made, various companies are pushing incompatible new DVD formats for new, higher capacity (i.e., can hold more video) DVDs. C|Net has posted an article that tells you everything you need to know about the HD DVD vs. Blu ray compatibility war. If you use DVDs and especially if you record onto them, you need to understand this issue and how it may affect you and your videos.

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TIVO Deathwatch: Some Mighty Good Spin

nailcoffinI belive this statement released by TIVO’s soon to be former CFO might be the best example I’ve ever seen of a one sentence, over the top spin job:

“In light of the company’s recent accelerated achievement of its profitability target, its very strong financial position, and the successful transition in CEO leadership, I feel that this is the right time for me to turn my attention to new and different pursuits.”

David H. Courtney, who became TIVO’s CFO in 1999, is resigning from his management roles at the company in early 2006.

I don’t know anything about this guy. What I do know is that TIVO is fighting for its life right now, and major executive turnover probably isn’t good news.

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C|Net’s 10 Best Products

top10C|Net has released its list of the top 10 digital products of the last 10 years. I went 7 for 10, having owned or used all but three.

Here’s the list, with my take:

1) iPod– I’ve never owned or used the device C|Net proclaims the best ever. The file limitations and DRM are more than I am willing to deal with. If you consider iPods to be the representative of MP3 players in general, however, I can’t argue with a high ranking. I’ve used several Creative products, including the small MuVo, which remains my MP3 player of choice.

2) TIVO– My TIVO deathwatch demonstrates my love of this technology. TIVO is dying a sad death at the hands of DirecTV and the Hollywood cartel, but I would nevertheless put it number 1 on my list.

3) Google– Google changed the web and the world, for the better. No argument here. I use it several times a day.

4) Napster– The original incarnation, not the DRM infested current imposter, ushered in the age of P2P. It was revolutionary technology that worked…until the RIAA killed it.

5) Firefox– I use Firefox some. In fact, I’m using it right now. But top 10 all-time? You’ve got to be kidding me.

6) PalmPilot– I’m a Blackberry guy, but I’ve used PalmPilots and they are very intuitive and useful.

7) Motorola Startac– I used one for years. I’m over the flip phone now, but it sure was a vast improvement over the corded monster in my truck that it replaced.

8) Apple iMac– Here’s a confession: I haven’t used an Apple computer since the 80s. It looks cool and may be the greatest thing ever, but I wouldn’t know.

9) Sony Digital Mavica– I had (actually still have) one of these. It takes digital photos directly onto a floppy disk! A great digital camera at the time.

10) The Sims– I played this game a little bit. It was cool, but not as cool as Sim City or Sim Farm, and definitely not one of my big four games.

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